A New Threat Arises: SENSHI Is Deployed
Get Me Out of Here It was a special day at the Academy, and not special in a good way. People stormed through the halls, the whole place seemed under some stress. Even be it the Military, the Academy still had many school elements to it. The members of SENSHI were especially stressed it seemed. Apparently, there was a huge test for their sealing magic class today; no one felt prepared. "My Freaking GOD!" Azuki cried, she slapped her forehead softly in annoyance. "Did I study enough, oh man I don't think I did. Crap those seals are complex..." Azuki and Julia were walking down the hall, people passing them quickly as everyone had somewhere to go. Azuki had her fists clenched and her face was serious as ever. "Just relax and you'll do fine Azuki. You're stressing out." Julia said, looking over to her friend. Azuki uttered no response. Julia touched her finger to lip in a curious manner. The test was big, but it didn't warrant this. "Um hell Azuki?!" she remarked once more, alittle louder too. Azuki turned her head to her friend, with a big forced smile. "Me? Stressing out? hahaha...see...I'm perfectly calm." the blue-haird girl replied. Julia sighed, "You seem pretty stressed. Listen with your brains you'll do great." Julia remarked, giving Azuki a thumbs up. She would of been happy too, if her eyes had not trailed over to a stomach turning sight. A teenage girl latched onto Drake's arm. "Oh I missed you Drake. How's it going? I'm sorry I haven't seen you in a while." she said, attempting to snuggle on his arm. "Can you calm down already..." Drake replied, Richard chuckled to himself at this. This flirtatious girl was Marie Vidic; she had a love affair with Drake. He attempted to shrug her off. "Just calm down alright." "Hahaha." Richard just had to laugh. It wasn't just that Drake couldn't handle this. But rather on top of that, Drake had no idea Azuki was near. This was too funny for Richard. Drake had always sucked at this type of stuff, it was Richard who gave him advice on chicks ''during their time as pals. "Drake don't act like that. If we're gonna get married, we need to be lovey dovey." Marie said, her hands clapsed together and swaying. Once again, Richard laugher continued. He noticed Azuki's expressiong get angrier subconsiously. Julie turned to her friend. "So aren't you gonna get mad now Azuki?" she asked. "Mad about what?" Azuki replied, sharply. Her fist subconsiously tightened as the scene continued. "You heard her. She's talking about marriage with him. And you know what happens between married people, right?" Azuki's face turned red. "Shut..Up." Azuki hissed. Julie figured this was classic pissed off Azuki, who just denied her feelings. Drake's frown grew as he turned to see Azuki, while prying Marie from his arm. "Oh crap." he thought, as a nervous sweat went down his forehead. At the same moment, Richard's smile got bigger and his laugh got a bit louder. "I live for this type of stuff." Richard remarked, with a tone of sarcasm. "Oh Azuki." Drake commented, removing himself from Marie. She didn't get angry and didn't even respond. Azuki simply walked past him and off to the room for the next class session. Marie clapped her hands. "I'll see you later drake, see you." she said, emphasis on his name. Drake sighed, "''And here I thought the test was my greatest worry." He looked over to the now composed Richard. "Let's just get going." Richard nodded in agreement. That was fun for him. They headed towards the room. Elbert had overheard the scene. He just shook his head, a small smile as he passed by. It was like a romantic comedy , expect the stars are also trained warriors. He made his way to the class as well, even with his studying, worry pervaded him. Jin was already in the classroom. The desks had been set up well for the exam. Everyone had taken there seats. Jin worried he could not decode the seals fast enough, which would be a huge bother. Drake was tapping his fingers on the desk, while looking over at Azuki occasionally. Even though he was the top student, even he had worries. Richard was keeping it calm and cool, he was never one to worry anyhow. The teacher set down a large book. "You all know this is the time. I wish you all luck. As soldiers,you must balance yourselves. Sealing magic is a useful skill indeed." His deep voice projected well in the room. Suddenly a blue-haired man walked through the door. He walked over to the teacher and whispered in his ear. Drake's eys widened in surprise. "Drake, Richard, Azuki, Elbert, Jin, you all go with him. It's important it seems, make up the test next week." All five members of SENSHI had been called. They knew who that young man was. Richard cocked an eyebrow at how easily the excuse made by that man was bought. But somethinng was up, if this was happening. The rose from their seats and followed the man otuside the room. They were silent as they walked through the halls. He said nothing at all. Then as they walked outside, he turned to them. Elbert was the first to ask, he was too confused. "So you came to get us? Did that man send you, Souryu-dono?" He asked, this was just too weird for him. Souryu smirked at the statement. "It's go time ''for you guys...." They all arrived to a large building on the grounds of the HQ. It was connected to the Main Buildiing, so they could deduce its' importance. None of them knew what it was, not even Drake. They had taken vague tours of the HQ as first years, but not much was seen on the said tours. It was a bit akward, but none of them were saying anything. Also Azuki was just straight ignoring Drake. Souryu looked back at them, with an arched eyebrow. "Oh that's right, you don't know what this is." Souryu remarked, forcing a nervous laugh. "It's the central mission office." They followed him in from the double doors. They passed by dozens of desks, with people working non stop. They went down a long corridor and out of it; into another building. They had just stepped into the Research Division home. They walked into a large room, with lacrima databases set up. Some people were uising archive magic, going through files. "So are we done walking?" Drake asked, rolling his eyes in irritation. They had just been walking through halls and going through doors. When he said it's "go time", Drake wasn't thinking a tour of HQ. Souryu sighed softly. "Now that's not too polite Mr. Vista. Your father taught you better then that." a male voiced said. They all turned to see a white haired seemingly young man walk towards them, a smirk on his face. Drake cocked an eyebrow, the man's words were rather annoying. "And you are?" Drake asked immediately. "Oh me?" he pointed at himself. "Well the full name is Dr. Iker Dai, but you can call me Iker." Iker folded his arms and took a look at SENSHI. "Big things are happening with the young generations." Iker remarked, a small chuckle followed. Richard exhaled for a moment, this was somewhat akward. "So what's going on. Not another test?!" Richard didn't like the idea of anymore tests, time to move on. He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder, the movement startled the other SENSHI members as well. "No it's not. It's time for an very important mission, no jokes here." Yotsuki's voice was serious, he didn't seem to running his nonchalant comical vibe. Elbert could tell this was serious, "So what's the matter" he asked, with a concerned tone. Iker and Souryu stood silent. It was time to brief them on this next mission. And it wasn't some kiddy one either. Yotsuki kept his serious tone, staring straight at each of his new underlings. "SENSHI, there is a ''big ''issue. There have been a number of disapperances in Oshibana town. Not normal ones....but those of mages...strong ones. Two of the recorded disappearances were S-Class mages. This is a serious problem, it's time for the Military to move under the radar on this one. And that is why you all are here. You will pack up and travel to Oshibana town; investigate. And, if possible, take down the mage behind this." Jin scratched his forehead a little. "So we just investigate, put the clues together,and find this person? With all of us, it won't be too hard." the young man remarked, it sounded interesting to him. Yotsuki sighed, "No it's not that simple. This person is likely to be incredibly powerful; god knows if he/she has anyone in league with him/her. Not to mention why they would be kidnapping people. '''I repeat, be very careful on this mission, it's dire to your safety.'" They had never seen him this serious before. They all nodded in agreement, they could all tell this was serious stuff. Yotsuki looked over at Azuki. "Anything wrong? Azuki..." Azuki shook her head, her eyes shifted to the left over at Drake. "Oh nothing at all. I'm just ignoring this idiot named Drake Vista. But it will not impede our performance at all." Azuki stated, as she folded her arms. Richard chuckled alittle, in return Drake sighed in comical despair. Suddenly Iker tossed a half spherical object over to Richard. He looked at it, confused. "That's an advanced communication Lacrima. This won't be some simple mission, so you all need it. If you need help, give me a ring." Richard felt a bit reassured by those words. "Now it's time you guys head for Oshibana town, it's a nice place, so no monkey business. And once again...be careful." Yotsuki stated firmly. "Yes Sir!!" They all said in unison. It was time to head out, a big time undercover investigation was at hand. They had no idea what crazy things the future held. " Wow, we're on our first major mission, this time as a team. Although this man must be very powerful to be able to kidnap S class mages, we must be cautious." Richard was thinking, Azuki was, as usual, ignoring Drake for unknown reasons and Elbert was getting bored of this silence. Arriving at the destination, A powerful enemy After driving, for what seemed like hours, they had finally reached their destination, Oshibana town, the place where currently, S class mages were dissappearing into thin air? " So we are here. Should we ask around town first?" Jin asked, stepping out of the Magic vehicle. " No Jin, I think it best we freshen up and get something to eat. How about we get to a hotel?" Azuki proposed, pointing towards a nice looking hotel. The others agreed, but Drake really wanted to get started with the mission, although surprisingly, Richard dragged him along. Richard figured they could get a strategy down as well, while they were there. Drake simply complied, without the usual groan of irritation. They quickly got 3 rooms in the hotel, the pirces were on their side today. They all agreed to get some food before starting the investigation. The guests of the hotel couldn't help but pay mind to the group of elder teens waltzing the halls around them. In particular every man would take a few more looks at Azuki, much to a certain young man's dismay. "Hey Jin, get us some seats." Richard turned his attention to the buffet line." As they say, duty calls." Azuki shook her head, smiling, she walked with Jin to get a booth for the group. Though they were a military unit, SENSHI were indeed building bonds. Over at the buffet, Richard, Drake, and Elbert were stacking their plates with food. They took the concept of eating a soldier's fill to the max, using the excuse "they would hate to have an empty stomach on a mission". The people around them, those not turning to leave, were watching in awe. "Got to love pasta man!" Richard exclaimed, taking a seat next to Azuki. He picked up a knife and fork; eyed his plate of food. Drake and Elbert set down their plates and took a seat. "Layla gonna be pissed about this bill." Drake thought, taking a sip of water. Apparently they were given spending money by the Task Force. The three senior male members dung into their food. They continued to comically wolf down the food before them. Azuki watched in semi-disgust. Jin cocked an eyebrow at the sight before him. "How can you guys eat so much? Is that even normal?" Jin remarked, continuing to watch them pig out. Azuki patted his shoulder. "Don't worry Jin, these guys don't have any manners." She shot Drake a judgemental glare, he payed no attention to her. "Speaking of, you guys to need to hurry up. It's time we get down to business." Elbert laughed, food in his mouth, it was funny since she had been to one to propose relaxing a little before getting serious. "Haste makes waste, Azuki. It's not like things will go quick. This mission, well at least how I'm feeling about it, will be a hard one." Richard stated, wiping off his mouth with a napkin. The mood got serious, everyone began to listen in. It was time to get serious. "I'd say it's time to make a strategy, but it might not be wise to discuss it here." Drake nodded in agreement, "That would make sense, let's walk and talk."he added, standing up from his seat. Both Drake and Richard saw it wise to not speak to lightly on mission related things here. On the way to their destionation, Drake had been a bit uneasy. The group made their way out of the cafe and out the double doors adjacent to the entrance. Richard clapped his hands. "So how should we do this?" the young mage asked, looking over at his teammates. "We split up." Drake said, his words catching everyone off guard. He sighd softly, "If we're gonna get some clues, then we have to divide our forces. It's a simple concept." Drake added, he folded his arms. All them realized they could not disagree, Drake had a good point. Elbert narrowed his eyes at Drake, he could tell he was serious. "So how do we split up?" Elbert asked. Suddenly Azuki went over to Jin and wrapped her arm around him. She hugged him somewhat close to her. "I'll pair up with Jin..." Azuki remarked. Jin blushed a little at her actions, she hadn't let go yet. Azuki turned her head towards Drake, who was openly ignoring the sight. In all honesty, she just saw Jin as a younger brother type friend and nothing else. This was just to spite Drake, her source irritation. "Will that be fine, Richard?" she asked, still looking at Drake. Richard shrugged at her question, it didn't matter too much to him. But he was well aware why she acting like this, those two were amusing to him. Drake turned to be on his way. "Richard, you go with Elbert....I'm going alone. Be careful, all of you." He suddenly vanished, his speed was impressive. Richard exhaled, "Well, let's get to it Elbert." The two walked off. Azuki was still staring in the direction Drake had left in, she sighed for a moment. "Idiot" Azuki whispered to herself. After Drake headed off, Richard thought it wise for the two pairs to head off to their rspective destinations as well." Ok, you guys head left, Elbert and I will head right, if you find anything, use this. I gave one to Drake in advance." Richard threw the communication Lachrima, Azuki quickly caught it, and replied. " Fine, and don't get into trouble." Azuki was truly thinking about Drake and his idiocy at the time, even though she knew that he, not wanting to admit it, was the strongest of the group, he shouldn't have left so abruptly, and on his own. Jin patted Azuki's shoulder and said." Drake will be fine." Azuki briefly blushed, Richard and Elbert chuckled under their breath. Azuki took Jin and left like a passing storm." And she's telling us not to leave abruptly?" Elbert comically said, Richard just smirked, and then started walking, Elbert followd along calmly. A Strange Town Indeed Drake walked slowly down the busy streets of Oshibana town. It wasn't a historically strange city, but as of late things were going bad. Keeping his wits about him, Drake decided to keep his guard up. When S-Class level mages start disappearing into thin air, anyone should be cautious. "If this person is smart, they probably have a good surveilance system. Probably on the look out for peopel snooping around." Drake pondered, he stuck his hands in his pockets. Everyone passing by him seemed normal, but he couldn't be too sure. He had to collect info and properly. Where was the best place to go? The crappiest parts of town, that's where the information lied. Even if he was a noble, Drake was not naive. Yotsuki's warning rang through this head once more, he hoped his comrades would heed his words. He walked into a dainty and messy store on the corner of the street. The bells chimed as he walked in. He could see the elderly store owner flippiing through a magazine near the counter. "Why not start with him" Drake walked over to him, hoping this could go well. "Hey old man..." he shouted, waving his hand to get his attention. The old man chuckled as he looked over to Drake. "That Fairy Tail just can't stay out of trouble. How can I help a youth like you?" Drake smirked, this looked promising. He leaned on the counter next to the shopkeeper. "I'm just a traveler...but I must ask. How is Oshibana town?" Drake asked, his eyes shiftiing to the side. The old man sighed at the subtle question. "It's always been a great place to live, the station was a big part of our lives. Things got even more interesting when that man showed up." the old man stated, his tone was somewhat sad. Drake cocked an eyebrow in question. "What man? " The question prompted the old man to gain smile. " A Mr. Oliver Ragna, not only is he a smart man, but has medical magic like no other in the city. He's helped alot of people that the doctors could not." the old man remarked. " He's rather popular here, a strange but still good man." Drake stroked his chin, this wasn't what he expected hear."B-but... theres been some strange stuff going on. Like hotels having guests just disappear or something. But they were all mages, so it's likely they just left on a job." he added apprehensively. Drake sighed at the carelessness of the general populace. "But if they went missing, wouldn't people be worried? An investigation would kind of make sense, no?" Drake asked. The old man looked at Drake for a moment. "You seem like a sharp young fella." "Don't change the subject old man." Drake harped. "If they're not famous, it doesn't matter." a female voice said. Drake and the shopkeeper turned to the other side of the store to see who had said this. It was a woman with somewhat messy greenish hair and tatoos on her arm. "I've never seen you around here." the old man said confused, as he crossed his hands behind his back. Drake narrowed his eyes at her, she wasn't very normal ''looking. "Careful boy, I'm too old for you." she replied, a sly grin crossing her face. Drake shook his head. "Tch...as if woman. Now, do elaborate on what you just said."Drake replied sharply. He was not into playing games with people. "Well aren't you the smooth type. It's simple, investigations won't be made for random mages." Drake titled his head question. "That seems unethical to me. One sh-" " But some strange stuff has been happening around here." She cut of Drake as she began to say what was on her mind. " I don't know much about the disapperances, can't say much. But people say that popular Oliver man has been acting weirder then normal, I don't know anything else. You should ask around more. What are you, some reporter?" The last part of her statement caught Drake off-guard. Drake quickly pondered on his choice of words for a response. He had to keep his cover. Drake gave a weak smile towards the woman. "Yea...something like that." Drake replied calmly. She touched him on the shoulder, "If you need anything, just go to the 10th street bar. I have no problem helping...young...men." the woman said softly. Drake's mind immediately flashed to Azuki; he shrugged her hand of his shoulder. "I'll be fine... thanks for the help old man" He began to make his way for the door. Ironically, the woman hadn't meant anything ''wrong ''with her word, that was just her manner of speech. "''Now we're getting somewhere...." Drake thought, exiting the store. "Honestly? This is getting annoying, wherever we go, people are just kicking us out!" Azuki shouted to herself, Jin chuckled as he knew the reason was just her anger issues which Azuki couldn't pick up." What are you laughing at?" She stared right into the little boy's face, and Jin just kept walking ignoring her completely. " Oh it's nothing, how about you let me try next." Jin said, approaching the next store, putting his finger over his mouth, telling Azuki to be quiet. As they entered, they saw a doctor like figure exiting the shop, although they absolutely didn't care about him, so they went up to the storekeeper and asked. " Excuse me? Would you know anything about the recent occurences in this town?" The storekeeper's face was suddenly turned sullen but he replied." Well, you see my son was one of the many mages to 'dissappear' from this town." Jin instantaneously bowed and apologised." We are very sorry, we didn't mean to hurt your feelings in any way." The shopkeeper's face lifted a little bit and he laughed a little." Well, you are just like him huh? Well, I have suspicions on only one person.Scientist Xanxus, otherwise known as Dr.X" " Would there be any reason for that suspicion?" Jin asked, the shopkeeper just replied." He doesn't believe in magic at all and thinks it should be eradicated from existence." Jin thought for a moment, and after purchasing some jellybeans, he left, thanking him for both the information and jellybeans. Azuki shook her head in disbelief. "What's up with this place. People act all normal, even though strange's stuff happening. The stupidiy of people!" Azuki shouted, a bit annoyed. Jin sighed, "Aren't you calm. Common people aren't really that smart, you know." he replied sarcastically. Quickly Azuki grabbed Jin by his shirt. "Listen here skipp-" Jin cut her off without fail. "Try not to touch me or release your frustration on me. We should focus on the mission here." She let him go immediately. "Dr. X is a suspect for sure. We know the number of disapperances as of late. But we don't know the areas they occured in." Jin remarked, dusting himself off. Azuki recomposed herself. "I'm getting pissed too easily today. All because of that idiot, I need to focus." She knew was Jin was on the mark. "Alright, let's get back to what matters then. And I hope the other teams are doing well." Azuki turned on her heel, as if to lead the way. "So where do we go next?" Jin thought for a moment. He had thought Azuki, his senior, would be calling the shots. Getting some "say" in things made him a bit happy. "To the sight of a dissaperance. One person you 'attacked' said something about a hotel downtown, where a strong mage disappeared." Jin said, waiting for Azuki's approval. She nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a wise idea." ---- "No leads! None at all, just great." Elbert's arms flared up in the air. He and Richard down a busy street, numerous streets vendors calling out to potential customers. " Well getting annoyed won't get us anywhere. We need a new plan for this." Richard was keeping calm, they had found less info then Drake or Jin and Azuki. But mages were always hard to look into, especially when they're unknown. Richard sighed, this was going nowhere. Elbert stopped as he noticed Richard staring off into space. "What's wrong?" Richard looked over to Elbert, and put his hand on his shoulder. "I get the feeling, well it's strange. I get the feeling someone's watching us." Richard remarked, folding his arms across his chest. " Yotsuki's words keep running though my mind. To be careful." Elbert smiled and scratched his head. "Usually I'd say calm down, but I think your worries are warranted. It may be time to meet up again. Get out the lacrima." Richard nodded in agreement, as he reached into his pocket. He shuffled around his pocket in search of the communication lacrima, but could not find it. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm sure I put in here." Elbert titled his head in question. "Something wrong?" Richard looked back at Elbert, a serious expression on his face. "The lacrima is missing, someone must of pickpockted me; that person must be good." Richard said. Elbert shook his hands before him frenzingly. "Don't jump to conclusion man. You could hav-" Not in the mood for games, Richard stepped closer to Elbert. The wind blew sofly.... "I don't lose stuff. I do not. Whoever did this is very good, and furthermore is trying to cut of our communication..." Richard looked downt he street, and surveyed the passing crowds. "...to one another. 'Divide and conquer' is a simple war strategy. And we're losing. Where did Azuki and Jin head to?" Richard asked frantically. Elbert's eyes widened in shock, he could believe how uneasy Richard was. Richard clenched his teeth, "Well let's head south, they probably went that way." Richard took off running, Elbert followed in suit. They dashed down the street, disregarding questionable stares. Richard had a bad feeling, and it concerned Azuki and Jin. They had no way to contact them and did not have a good idea of where they are; Drake was off somewhere to top things off. This could not bode well. A Dance with Death Heading towards the downtown that a civilian mentioned, the two young mages, Jin and Azuki were looking around carefully, being wary of their surroundings. However, this was to no avail, as nobody suspicious looking was around, and Azuki sighed and just said." This is getting annoying!" Purely accidental, Azuki realised she had shouted in a public area and people started staring. " Very sorry, I didn't mean that." Azuki said, the people then went on with their own business, Jin once again chuckled at Azuki's expense." That wasn't funny you know." Azuki said, blushing lightly." Sorry, anyway, back to what we were doing. I think we should over into that area over there." Jin pointed to a very run down area of the town. Jin and Azuki walked towards there, not knowing the dangers that they would face yet." Wow, this is one desolate place." Jin remarked, his eyes scanned the area when he saw a strange silver-haired man picking up some of the rubble left from an unknown battle. " Excuse me, who are you!" Jin asked, keeping his hand on his sword, the man noticed Jin and Azuki and replied." Oh, hello there, I didn't know others came here as well." The man approached the two and let out his hand and said." I am Reggie Nesta, you are?" Jin became a little laxed and replied." I am Jin Terumi, this is Azuki Isshi." " Jin and Azuki eh? Nice names." Reggie said, although Azuki had her suspicions, and was wondering who this person was." So, why are you here?" Azuki asked, Reggie just replied calmly." I'm just collecting a few samples of some elements, that's all." Azuki was good in science, and looked around and knew that there were no unique elements here, and drew her halberd." You're lying! Who are you!" Azuki shouted, Jin realised it as well, and drew his blade." My, my, what fuss makers." Reggie had instantly appeared before and Azuki and created what looked like a 'blade' of blue energy which he was about to slice Azuki with. " Flash Sword Style: Direct Line!" Jin chanted, as his blade flashed for less than a moment, and with immense speeds, intervened Reggie's attack, surprising him." Well, this is interesting isn't it?" Reggie said, smirking while he was forcing Jin back somewhat. " Azuki, hurry up!" Jin commanded, Azuki quickly flipped over Jin and aimed her Halberd towards Reggie, but he quickly made another blade on his other hand, instantly blocking Azuki and pushing her back towards the rubble." Aaah!" Azuki shouted because of the pain, Jin's eyes had become furious and he quickly went towards Azuki. " Azuki, stay there, I'll take care of this!" Jin's eyes were merciless and Reggie maniacally laughed." Hahaha! Now this is interesting." Reggie charged at Jin who had drew his other blade that he always kept and blocked both blades with some effort. "You will not get away! Hurricane Roar!" Jin cried, inhaling an enormous amount of air, and with it, he blew it at an unbelievable force, causing the huge rubble to crumble into nothing but dust." Flare Chain." Jin chanted, as out of his mouth, while the wind was blowing, fire came out and there was a massive explosion with Reggie right at the epicentre. After the explosion Jin was panting, he used an amazing amount of magical power but Reggie laughed, even with his injuries he hadn't died, which amazed Jin." How?!!" Jin shouted at him, with his two swords in his hands, Reggie effortlessly blocked him in his weakened state and pummeled him into the ground. " Well, let me explain, my magic, named, Deep Sea, is a magic that literally creates a 'sea' of magical energy which only I can see and manipulate. The sea is only fifty metres though, so that's a problem, but I can create whatever item I want with this energy as long as I have enough power so, yeah." Jin was greatly disturbed by this, he knew that he didn't have enough power left to keep fighting, but he stood up anyway, facing all odds he chanted." Flash Sword Style: Migrating Star!" Jin suddenly appeared behind Reggie, his blade shining with magical power, he attempted to hit him, although, Reggie had created a shield which had easily blocked it, but Jin saw cracks on it. " That's how you blocked my other attacks! I see." Jin then went to Reggie's left, although Reggie had blocked him there and Jin was now unable to move, knowing he had almost no power left." Damn." Jin fainted, Reggie's maniacal smile was looming over him, as Azuki was able to do nothing but look, another presence had appeared behind Reggie. " Reggie, he's told us to stop." The woman said, Reggie sighed and let Jin go, only saying the three words." We'll meet again." Reggie and the female with him left and Jin and Azuki were left there, unconscious from exhaustion. ---- Drake was walking down a beaten down street, not the best side of town. He had found nothing of interest on his initial side of town, after leaving that store. What the man had said about a man named Oliver Ragna stuck with him. "I should find the others." Drake reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small lacrima tied to a chain. "Military technology is always great." A gust a wind blew through his hair. As he walked, Drake noticed there wasn't much people around. He could tell this was the run-down part of town but would of expected to see some more faces. His eye was caught by rubble, seem some run down buildings had taken some toll from something or someone. Drake began to walk towards the sight, he was gonna keep his guard up. He had tried to contact Richard and Elbert, but got nothing. Drake slowly continued towards the area. "What or who did this? Maybe it's been like this for a long time, there have been wars in the past." Drake couldn't think of anything that didn't worry him. This is what he had wanted, to be on real dangerous missions, or so he thought. He turned the corner to a sight that sent shock down his spine. His eyes widened in horror. Slouched against a cracked wall. Azuki was on her knees holding a unconsious Jin. Drake quickly noticed the wounds on Jin, and they were notable ones. He noticed Azuki was a bit injured as well. There were no groans, just silence. Drake was a speechless, Azuki hadn't noticed him yet. He noticed Jin blades was on the ground far from him, and Jin never let go of that thing. "An enemy attack?" Drake quickly rushed over to Azuki. She turned to see Drake moving towards her. A sigh of relief left her, her eyes were somber. This was the look of defeat, Drake had been too late. She said nothing as she looked back down at the injured Jin. Drake was trying to think of what to say, he had been annoyed with her earlier, but that didn't matter right now. "What happened, Azuki?" He took a deep breath, to try and be sensitive. " How is Jin in this state?" She looked up at him. He couldn't tell if she was pissed off or shameful of her failure. "Jin tried to protect me and got hurt, and bad." She tightned the piece of cloth around his arm, to stop the bleeding. "Even though I'm older, I screwed up. I can't be mad, since it's my fault. " Azuki said softly. Azuki clenched her teeth, she was both sad and angry. Drake narrowed his eyes at Jin, as he walked over to Azuki. He picked the teenage boy from Azuki grasp and laid him over his shoulder gently. Drake looked back at Azuki. "Are you ok?" Drake asked, stretching out his hand towards Azuki. She grabbed it and let him hoist her up. She stood up straight and looked straight at Drake. "This wouldn't have happened if..." Drake sighed softly. "Don't blame yourself at all, Azuki. Stuff happens. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you two out, forgive me." The kind words made Azuki blush lightly, as she looked away. "I know, I'll try not to. You're right, let's go find the others. Jin needs treatment and now." Azuki remarked, as she went to walk beside Drake. Azuki stumbled alittle, Drake, with his other arm, prevented her fall. "As I thought, you're abit injured yourself. Why don-" Azuki cut him off quickly. "Enough, Drake..." Azuki regained her posture. "....I'm fine, don't worry about me. We need to hurry." Azuki said sharply. Drake sensed two people behind them. In came running Richard and Elbert, late at that. Both their eyes widened at the sight of their injured comrades. "What the hell happened?!" Richard asked frantically. His bad premonitions had came true, and that wasn't good. "They got us, Richard. They got us." Drake said, clenching his free fist. Azuki noticed this, and wondered what was going on inside Drake's mind. Elbert looked at Jin who was hanging over Drake's shoulder. "Well medical attention for Jin comes first." he remarked. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Let's go to the hotel, and let Jin rest." Richard proposed. It was the most important thing to do first. Drake was relieved to see some help come in. They just needed to make sure not to bring attention to themselves. Elbert looked at his comrades' faces. "Guys... our enemy knows we're here. Look like a battle is upon us." Drake looked over at the woman next to him. "Azuki, think you can handle walking to the hotel?" Drake was very serious abotu this one. Azuki smirked, "I survived that little dance with death, so I'll be fine. Don't think of me as a burden, Drake." Drake wasn't gonna say anything. Messing with a strong woman's pride was dumb in serious situations, his dad had told him that once. Drake turned back tot he rest of the group. "I know one thing. Oliver Ragna is the main suspect. And whoever attacked Jin." Draked said, with a serious tone. Azuki lifted a finger. "Reggie was the name of our attacker. It's time we get down to this stuff." [[w:c:fairytailfanon:Connecting the Dots: Midnight Revelations|'Next Chapter']] Category:Zicoihno Category:Tales of a New Generation Category:Ash9876